Bringing back the “family doctor” concept
It's check up time for Mrs. Chandra Bodhipala with Dr. Shyamalee Samaranayaka
Some are awaiting consultations, others are keeping their arms folded having given blood for testing and a few more are walking in to another room to take a dexa scan.
It is a busy Tuesday at the Family Practice Centre run by the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura at Gangodawila, Nugegoda, and it is interesting to see medical students moving in and out of the faculty from a different gate, while patients are walking in from another.
“We have more than 3,000 families registered with us, while many other patients also walk-in, having heard of the services being offered here through word-of-mouth,” says Consultant Family Physician Dr. Shyamalee Samaranayaka.
Vice Chancellor: Prof. Sampath Amaratunge
The services of the Family Practice Centre include treatment for acute illness, chronic illness with regular follow-ups, elderly care, palliative care and home visits if required, administration of injections, minor surgery such as wound dressing and removal of lumps and bumps and also a wide-range of tests in the well-equipped laboratory and physiotherapy.
The beginnings were humble but a first in Sri Lanka. The Family Practice Centre was the brainchild of Prof. Leela de A. Karunaratne way back in 1997. Currently Emeritus Professor of Family Medicine, Prof. Antoinette Perera is not only teaching students but also seeing patients here.
It was the first model centre in Sri Lanka set up as a project of a medical faculty, the Sri Jayewardenepura Faculty of Medical Sciences, under its Department of Family Medicine to give a hands-on learning experience to both undergraduates and postgraduates who include those studying medicine and also medical laboratory services.
Having begun its services on a small scale, now the Family Practice Centre is part of a comfortable and cozy two-storey building.
Education, patient care and research through the ‘National Centre for Primary Care & Allergy Research’ come under this project of the Department of Family Medicine.
Dean: Prof. Surangi Yasawardene
They have been able to expand all these services and move into this new home in August 2017 after winning the competitive Township Grant from the Treasury in 2012, under which Rs. 183 million had been awarded for the construction of the building; Rs. 35m for the equipment; and Rs. 13m for research, MediScene learns.
“The Family Practice Centre is meant to strengthen the ‘Family Doctor’ concept, where the students get to know their patients thoroughly – their economic status and social status in addition to treating them just for this illness or that,” explains Dr. Samaranayaka.
Here they learn to establish contact with their patients and not see them for a few minutes, she said, before going into her room to see 85-year-old Mrs. Chandra Bodhipala who has been brought by her son Nuwan as she has lost her appetite.
“The service is superb,” smiles Nuwan, readily talking to MediScene, adding that there is no stress and it is a friendly place.
Similar are the sentiments expressed by men, women and children awaiting some form of service and the nominal fees charged takes everyone by surprise. For the lifetime registration of a family, the fee is Rs. 300, while a person who seeks a consultant pays a mere Rs. 100 for any number of visits in a week. A dexa scan costs about Rs. 2,000.
Senior Medical Laboratory Technician, Amitha Jayawardana, who has been part of the Family Practice Centre soon after its opening nearly 21 years ago, says that in those early days only basic tests were done.
“Den loku diunuwak thiyenawa,” she smiles, adding the Family Practice Centre has improved in leaps and bounds.
Those who make this project work are Emeritus Professor Antoinette Perera (centre) and from left Dr. Chandimal Alahakoon (Coordinator of the Family Practice Centre); Dr. Chandima Jeewandara (Director of the ‘National Centre for Primary Care & Allergy Research’); Consultant Family Physician and Head of Department Dr. Shyamalee Samaranayaka; and Dr. Chamath Fernando (Coordinator of the National Centre) with the other staff members.
| A centre for the community The vision is to make a fully-fledged centre for the community, says the Vice Chancellor of the Sri Jayewardenepura University, Prof. Sampath Amaratunge, while wholehearted support is being extended by the Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Prof. Surangi Yasawardene. | |
